Blasts had been heard in Kyiv on Monday and Ukrainian authorities reported Russian missile strikes across the nation, after Moscow blamed Kyiv for an assault on its Black Sea fleet and pulled out of a deal to permit Ukrainian grain shipments.
“Another batch of Russian missiles hits Ukraine’s important infrastructure. Instead of combating on the battlefield, Russia fights civilians,” Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba mentioned in a tweet.
“Don’t justify these assaults by calling them a ‘response.’ Russia does this as a result of it nonetheless has the missiles and the desire to kill Ukrainians.”
Foreign ministry spokesman Oleg Nikolenko mentioned missiles had hit vitality infrastructure in Kyiv and different cities, inflicting electrical energy and water outages.
“Russia is just not fascinated about peace talks, nor in international meals safety. Putin’s solely objective is dying and destruction.”
There was no instant response from Moscow, which has accused Kyiv of attacking its Black Sea Fleet in a Crimean port with 16 drones on Saturday. Earlier this month, Russia launched the most important airstrikes for the reason that begin of the struggle on Kyiv and different Ukrainian cities, in what it mentioned was a response to an assault on its bridge to Crimea.
Ukraine has neither confirmed nor denied it was behind the assault on the Russian fleet, its typical coverage for incidents in Crimea.
Russia and Ukraine are each among the many world’s largest meals exporters, and a Russian blockade of Ukrainian grain shipments prompted a worldwide meals disaster earlier this 12 months.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy accused Russia of “blackmailing the world with starvation” by pulling out of the meals export deal negotiated by the United Nations and Turkey.
Among vessels held up was one carrying tens of hundreds of tons of wheat, chartered by the U.N. World Food Programme for an emergency response within the Horn of Africa, Zelenskiy mentioned in an in a single day deal with.
Ukraine’s infrastructure ministry mentioned a complete of 218 vessels had been “successfully blocked.”
The grain deal required Russia and Ukraine to coordinate inspections and transit of ships by means of the Black Sea with the United Nations and Turkey performing as mediators.
No ships moved on Sunday. The United Nations mentioned it had agreed with Turkey and Ukraine on a transit plan for Monday for 16 ships to maneuver Black Sea grain — 12 outbound and 4 inbound. There was no instant response from Russia.
The United Nations mentioned Russian officers had been advised concerning the plan, together with the intention to examine 40 outbound vessels on Monday, and famous that “all individuals coordinate with their respective army and different related authorities to make sure the secure passage of business vessels” underneath the deal.
President Joe Biden on Saturday known as Russia’s transfer “purely outrageous” and mentioned it might improve hunger. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken accused Moscow of weaponizing meals.
On Sunday, Russia’s ambassador to Washington, snapped again, saying the U.S. response was “outrageous” and made false assertions about Moscow’s transfer.
This is a creating story, please examine again for updates.
